Friday, November 16, 2007

A Change of Venue

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," with malice toward none and with charity toward all!

And when the guy who penned those lines gets up and runs for president again, I might vote Republican. But only if he's not soft on slavery.

On Wednesday I completed a long-term substitute teaching job at a Vo-Tech school that draws its students from Camden, New Jersey. The school is 65 percent Hispanic, 33 percent African American, and 2 percent Asian. The white student population of this school is not statistically significant. As in, three white kids. And one of them is a teacher's son.

I never thought I'd like to teach. Spent 20 years at home writing stuff, all alone, just me and Decibel the Parrot. And in fact I didn't like substitute teaching much at first. Then they put me in charge of classes for long terms, and I liked that. Even though it's hard work.

The whole time I've been working as a sub, I've been going to the Vo-Tech. And I may be going back there in January for another long-term assignment -- that is, if Warren Buffett doesn't decide to hire me to run one of his companies or anything like that.

Today I am substitute teaching at The Heir's high school. Ninety-nine percent white, one percent Asian, African American statistically insignificant. As in, maybe five black kids.

It's funny somehow. I lived through years where we tried to do something to get the races to mix and mingle. It didn't work.

The other day when I was driving to the Vo-Tech, I heard that working black people earn 58 cents for every dollar that white people earn.

I don't have a solution for this problem. If I did I'd share it with the world ASAP. But for me, working closely with Black and Hispanic students has broadened my horizon and given me new young people to love.

It will be very interesting today to see how I'm received at the all-white school, how vibrant the students are, and how they treat me. I'm not optimistic. I'll let you know.

I heart all teachers..buddha_girl is one of my heros..she teaches and is such a great teacher...wish I had a teacher like her when I was a kid..and would have loved to have had a druid for my teacher...would have explained how I turned out..

i add mire ye fer doin the teachin n speshly fer larnin all ye dun by teachin at that vo-tech skool. i dun sum teachin at a uncf collidge sum years back n i larnt more bout amurka thar than i dun bout most innythang fer my masters in english, witch that wudnt no walk in the park neethur.